1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the field of light emitting diodes (LED) used in a side-emitting device.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The invention collects substantially all the light or energy radiating from an LED source and redirects it into a 360 degree circular beam of light. The propagating beam is similar in its conical planar radiation pattern to that of the beam of a conventional lighthouse Fresnel lamp system. There are, however, several substantial differences between the invention and such prior art systems. In the prior art only a portion of the energy from the lamp is collected. With a traditional navigational lamp system, a lamp is placed at the axis of a surface of rotation Fresnel lens. The lamp's axis is substantially collinear with the Fresnel lens. Light is collected from about plus and minus 45 degrees of the lamp's output into the beam. The light radiating from the lamp above and below 45 degrees does not become part of the beam, thus becoming a factor of the systems inefficiency.
In prior art side-emitting LED systems, the light radiating from the LED is modified with multiple surfaces creating a beam comprised of several distinct beam portions. The invention, however, provides a uniform beam with all rays traceable to a single point source. This allows the luminare designer to modify the radiated beam with simple optical elements that further control the entire beam.